Chapter 1223 Super Railway System
Lanzhou Railway Station, Gansu Province.
At this moment, time seems to stand still in the deepest hour before dawn, and the former transportation hub is enveloped in a somber atmosphere.
The entire train station, inside and out, has been completely taken over, but the control is not held by the local garrison, but by the Night Orchid Transport Corps Guard Service Battalion from the Central Plains War Zone.
All entrances and exits of the train station were blocked by sandbag fortifications and armored vehicles equipped with heavy machine guns.
The guards, dressed in the distinctive dark gray combat uniforms of the Night Orchid Transport Legion and wearing armbands bearing the insignia of the Night Orchid Transport Legion, guarded every key position in standard tactical formations.
Belonging to the guard battalion, their equipment is among the best in the entire Night Orchid Transport Legion. Although their exoskeleton system is not as exaggerated as that of the Fire Seed Assault Team, it still provides mobility and load-bearing capacity far exceeding that of ordinary people. The weapons in their hands gleam with a cold, eerie light in the dim light.
The sniper team could be vaguely seen on the roof of the main station building, the dome of the waiting hall, and the tops of several surrounding tall buildings. Like lurking falcons, they silently scanned every corner of the darkness through high-powered scopes.
The main platform running east to west was completely cleared out, leaving only the necessary signaling equipment and temporary communication antennas.
More soldiers from the Night Orchid Transport Corps' security battalion lined up along the edge of the platform, forming a human wall. They wore black tactical masks, obscuring their expressions, but their cold eyes exuded a suffocating sense of oppression.
In the center of the platform, two figures stood side by side, gazing at the endlessly stretching tracks in the darkness.
Major General Wang Xulong, commander of the Yelan Transportation Corps, was dressed in a crisp, meticulously starched railway corps officer's uniform. The general's stars on his shoulders reflected a resolute, cold light in the dim light of the approaching dawn.
He stood tall and straight like a pine tree, his face slightly thin from days of intense command and living outdoors, but his eyes were exceptionally bright, like two burning embers, fixed on the southwest direction where the track extended.
In those eyes, there was expectation, solemnity, and even more so, a resolute determination to witness history and fulfill a mission.
Standing beside him was a figure that would surprise anyone familiar with the situation in Northwest China—Major General Gao Zhikai, commander of the 76th Army Corps of the Western Theater!
Gao Zhikai was wearing a field training uniform. The numerous wrinkles on his clothes, which seemed out of place for his status, indicated that he had been doing a lot of fieldwork recently, spending almost all day and night traveling between various fronts.
Unlike Wang Xulong's solemn focus, he stood casually with his hands behind his back, but his slightly raised chin and the sharp, hawk-like gaze that occasionally swept over his surroundings revealed the complex emotions in his heart.
This general, known for his toughness and ambition within the Western Theater, has been like the most keen hunting dog ever since he conceived the idea of moving closer to the Central Theater.
The development of the Yelan transport line was undoubtedly an excellent entry point for him. To this end, he not only dispatched elite troops in advance to take actual control and complete control of this crucial Lanzhou railway hub, but also took the initiative to hand over the control of the Yelan transport army's vanguard in a decisive manner when it arrived, without any hesitation.
This series of actions directly earned him the opportunity to speak directly with Wang Xulong, the supreme commander of the Yelan Transportation Legion. Being able to stand at the ceremony site where the entire line was about to be completed was his initial harvest—the initial friendship from the railway system of the Central Plains Theater.
To be honest, when Gao Zhikai first came into contact with Wang Xulong, he thought he could use him as a stepping stone to get in touch with the higher-ups in the Central Plains War Zone. After all, no matter how nicely the Night Orchid Transport Legion was called, it could never escape the limitation of the word 'transport', and it sounded like a logistics unit.
In the military, there is undoubtedly a hierarchy of contempt among the various branches of service, with the logistics branches undoubtedly at the very bottom.
The most enjoyable and least demanding branch of service is logistics, which is why it's so despised. While other branches of the military tend to lose weight during service, logistics personnel generally gain weight over time.
Whether this contempt stems from jealousy or a sense of disappointment is a matter of opinion...
However, just as Gao Zhikai approached Wang Xulong with such intentions and learned about the Central Plains War Zone Railway Command behind him, his shallow understanding based on the traditional military hierarchy was quickly and ruthlessly destroyed by reality!
As he learned more, he realized just how terrifying the so-called 'logistics' Railway Command really was!
This was nothing like the auxiliary unit he had imagined, which was just managing warehouses and repairing railways!
First, there is its staggering size and military strength.
According to information that Wang Xulong intentionally or unintentionally revealed, the Railway Command of the Central Plains War Zone now has 100,000 troops on the surface, but its actual strength may even reach 150,000 or more, which is far beyond the size of his 76th Army Corps!
These 150,000 people are not a mob; they control multiple major transportation arteries extending from the core of the Central Plains War Zone, as well as hundreds of branch railways, using the railway network as their backbone!
Its reach and influence are comparable to that of ancient vassal kings who possessed vast fiefdoms!
Wherever the railway extends, the power and influence of the railway forces permeate.
They were not merely protecting the railway; rather, they were using this steel network to embed the will, law, and even military presence of the Central Plains Military Region deep into the bodies of hundreds of settlements of varying sizes along the route, like capillaries.
It affects millions of people!
What a terrifying concept!
In the end times, population and resources will be the foundation of power.
By controlling vital transportation arteries, the Railway Command indirectly or even directly controls such a vast network of people and resources. Its potential political power and strategic deterrent force far exceed the scope of a conventional military force.
They not only possess professional railway engineering and transportation support capabilities, but also have a large number of field infantry brigades, medium combined arms brigades, and even special operations brigades!
Its equipment level is in no way inferior to that of the main field forces, and in some aspects, it may even surpass them due to its "self-reliant" military industrial system!
This completely overturned Gao Zhikai's preconceived notion of "logistics soldiers"—this was clearly a highly self-sufficient strategic mobile military group bearing the name of the railway!
Through his conversation with Wang Xulong, Gao Zhikai learned that the Railway Command, using its absolute control over the railway network, had been like a greedy and efficient giant python, frantically swallowing up and integrating those "leftovers" that had been overlooked by the mainstream in the past six months, along the railway lines opened up by the Central Plains War Zone.
More than fifty industrial parks of all sizes scattered in various places, countless scattered factories in towns and counties, and even some industrial equipment left over from before the apocalypse were forcibly integrated into a huge, self-contained production system by using railways as a link!
what does this mean?
This means that the Railway Command can produce, maintain, and even develop a considerable amount of weapons, equipment, and military supplies on its own, almost without relying on the logistics support of the theater headquarters!
Of course, in terms of weapon sophistication and technological sophistication, it certainly cannot compare to the standard equipment used in theaters of war, but in terms of lethality, it is more than sufficient.
Today, the resources and productivity they control have reached a level that makes Gao Zhikai extremely envious and also terrified!
This is the height he has always dreamed of reaching, and even dared not hope of, building an economic foundation for an independent kingdom!
